Chapter Seventy Three | A Hostile Environment

The door is pulled open and Liviana, before she could call herself prepared, finds herself face to face with Drusilla, who scoffs.

“Finally!” The mother exclaims, taking hold of her daughter’s wrist and yanking her into the kitchen.

“Oh-“ Liviana gasps as she’s pulled inside, nearly falling over herself as she’s pushed toward her father, feeling Drusilla’s hands delivering a shove to her shoulder.

“What on earth took you so long?” Drusilla complains, cutting Liviana off before she could so much as speak, deciding that it didn’t matter. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. The important thing here, the one that we need to talk about, is this arrest.”

This is when Blaze takes his cue, coughing as he steps into the kitchen. “That won’t be necessary,” he tells, and all heads turn to him.

Drusilla grits. “What?”

“The arrest has been handled,” he shrugs it off.

“Handled?” The woman echoes, watching as he nods. “Handled how, exactly?”

“What does it matter?” He asks. “So long as it’s handled, the